blog tour

Special and Exciting Announcement! Plus My Guest Post on National Dog Week Today!

nwnrdd 404I’m so excited to share this wonderful news today!

As many of you know I created National Walk ‘N Roll Dog Day (NWNRDD) in memory of Frankie and in honor of all dogs in wheelchairs around the world, which I established in August 2012, two months after Frankie passed away.

It’s my hope to continue Frankie’s legacy by bringing positive awareness to dogs in wheelchairs, educating others that dogs in wheelchairs can (and do!) lead quality lives.  NWNRDD began with a website as well as a Facebook page. As of today, we have 1,312 people part of this wonderful, growing community.

While the day was not officially designated, I hoped to have that done soon, so was diligent in sharing the work of NWNRDD as much as I could. I also applied for official designation this past January with Chase’s Calendar of Events.  Chase is the most comprehensive and authoritative reference available on special events, holidays, federal and state observances, historic anniversaries and more.

The exciting news is that my application for NWNRDD has been accepted! This means even more people will have an opportunity to learn about NWNRDD, join our community, and help spread the positive awareness… which I believe, will ultimately save more pets’ lives that become disabled so others have this knowledge of the option of dog wheelchairs and how we can help our pets.

Thank you to everyone who joined NWNRDD community since its inception in August as that certainly helped with my application for the official designation!

To top this off, I had my guest post planned well in advance for today with National Dog Week (NDW) for my Joyful Paws Jaunt Blog Tour. I love the synchronicity of how this all unfolded!  So without further ado, I invite you to check out my blog post on NDW blog today, as well as encourage, and invite you to join NDW Community on Facebook.  Afterall, we dog lovers can never get enough of dogs, right?

Happy Birthday, Joie! And Check Out Today’s Blog Tour Stop at RowdyKittens.com

Joie turns 5

Before the big celebration of Joie’s birthday today, I must announce my Joyful Paws Jaunt Blog Tour stop for Through Frankie’s Eyes for the week.  It is truly such an honor for me to have been interviewed by Tammy Strobel, author, tiny house dweller and blogger, on her sweet blog, Rowdy Kittens. I’ve admired Tammy for quite some time so I’m just thrilled to share my interview she did with me. Thank you, Tammy!

And now for the who hoo’s s and yippee’s!  Yes!  It is Joie’s 5th birthday today! Well, it is what we have made as her birthday. I don’t know the actual date of her birth since I adopted her. But her mom before me said she knew her birthday was in March, but didn’t know what day. Ever since I held Joie in my arms for the very first time on October 13th, I decided the 13th would be the perfect day of this month to celebrate her birthday.  Though, quite honestly, and I realize this will come as a shock to those who regularly follow my blog… but I’ve been celebrating every day since she came into my life.  I know, I can hear you all gasp!

At any rate, today is a special day, just as all the days since October when Joie arrived into our lives and hearts. We have smiled more, laughed more, and our hearts have grown even more in love and size since this little sweet girl found her way to us. Happy Birthday to my beautiful, sweet, loving dog on wheels, Joie… and thank you for cracking my heart open even more than I could have ever known. I. am. blessed.

Time and Money: We Never Have Enough. Or Do We?

kylie and joie snuggling on pillow

Before my post today, just want to mention that today on my Joyful Paws Jaunt Blog Tour I am featured on Kim Gifford’s Pugs and Pics blog with an audio interview. Grab your favorite beverage and sit a spell– and I hope it inspires you!

Yesterday on my Facebook wall I asked this question: “What’s the one thing that stops you from doing something that would bring you joy?”  The common responses were time and money.

I don’t know what it is exactly that others want to do in regards to bringing more joy into their lives, but I find the answers intriguing. Maybe they were looking at the question in too big of terms. Maybe I should have been more specific. But none-the-less the answers are nothing new. We hear them all the time, as well as we each face them.

Isn’t time all we have? While at the same time we don’t know how much time we really do have. We could be gone tomorrow. Just like that. Poof. Gone. Then what of that joy we were always seeking?

I guess for me it just makes me think about taking little steps towards those things that bring us joy. Does it have to be so big? What if all the little steps of joy added up to living with even more joy?

We will likely never have enough money. Let’s face it. But what if we could make do with what we have and still have joy?  What would that look like to you?

To me, it is moments of time with my dogs, my dear friends, my family, my Johnnie.  Most of this does not require money. It requires time. And while I have much to do in my everyday life with promoting my books and my mission, besides all the normal day-to day things, I find that if I can fit in moments of quality time with what brings me joy, more joy comes to me.

The other thing it made me think of is when I decided to take three months to hunker down, hire a life coach, and dive into what my soul was trying to tell me. Yes, that required money, and it was money we really didn’t have at the time to spend. But I wanted this so bad that I gave up other “things” to make this happen. Again, I realize not everyone may be able to do this in terms of money, as their situation may be completely different than mine.  But I also think often times it is just a mask. A mask to doubt and fear of uncovering things that may be scary.

We may never have enough time or money. Or do we?  What if we just started today and did one small thing that brought us joy? So just for today find one small thing that does not require a lot of money or time, and just do it.  My moment of joy today is going to be sitting for five minutes with Joie and Kylie, and hugging them tight.  What is yours going to be?